component

Tamara LED Nameplate

Public Made by Adom

by adom

92x38mm USB-C desk nameplate with 54 warm-white LEDs spelling TAMARA in a 3x5 pixel font. Plug in any iPhone charger and it lights up.

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Overview

A warm-white LED desk nameplate that spells TAMARA in a 3x5 bitmap pixel font. Designed as an Adom molecule (92 x 38 mm, 4-pin machine contact) so it can be manufactured on the InstaPCB workcell.

How it works

  • 54 warm-white LEDs (0603) arranged in 6 letters: T-A-M-A-R-A
  • Each LED has its own 390 ohm current-limiting resistor (0402)
  • All LED+resistor pairs wired in parallel from VBUS to GND
  • USB-C connector on the south edge with 5.1k ohm CC pull-downs
  • 10uF bulk cap for inrush smoothing
  • Total draw: ~275mA at 5V (1.4W) -- any phone charger handles it

How to use it

  1. Grab any USB-C cable (iPhone charger works)
  2. Plug one end into the board's south edge
  3. Plug the other end into a 5V USB-C power source
  4. TAMARA lights up warm white

Bill of Materials

Component Value Package Qty
LED warm-white 0603 54
R 390 ohm 1% 0402 54
R_CC1, R_CC2 5.1k ohm 0402 2
C_BULK 10uF X5R 0805 1
J1 TYPE-C-31-M-12 USB-C 1

Design details

  • Board: 92 x 38 mm, 2-layer, 1.6mm FR4
  • Pixel pitch: 3mm LED-to-LED
  • Letter gap: 3mm between letters
  • Warm-white Vf = 3.0V, so 390 ohm at 5V gives ~5mA per LED
  • Back side has full documentation silkscreen (how to power, BOM, maintenance)

Built with

Authored in tscircuit (TSX), previewed with adom-tsci, exported to KiCad.